Unfinished Business
by Blizzard96
Summary: Tsuna died in a car accident, but he's not quite ready to pass on yet. Can he help his family move on without their sky? Review please!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or any of the characters!**

Chapter 1: Realizations

Tsuna sat up and groaned, rubbing his head. His entire body hurt! It was worse than when Reborn kicked down a cliff and told him to try and crawl out for his "training". He hadn't been able to move for a week afterwards! Tsuna examined his body for any signs of injury, but oddly he was perfectly fine, his skin not marred by any cuts or bruises. 'What the heck?' he thought. 'Why am I not injured? I feel like the Varia just used me for target practice!'

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a voice off to his right. "Should I kill you?" the voice asked. Tsuna slowly turned to his right to see a figure in a dark grey hoodie and jeans twirling a combat knife around his finger. The hood was up, obscuring the person's features. The figure seemed to look directly at Tsuna. "Maybe I should kill you." He said in his hollow voice.

"Ehhhh?! No please don't kill me!" Tsuna shrieked, rapidly backing away from him. The figure continued to speak, obviously ignoring Tsuna's protests.

"It would be a good idea to kill you. I mean, you were a mafia boss." Tsuna mentally panicked. Reborn was going to kill him! No one was supposed to know he was the Decimo yet! It had only been 9 months since he had accepted the role…

"H-how do you know that?!" He asked, voice wavering.

"But then again, maybe I shouldn't kill you. You haven't done anything to me." The figure said, oblivious to Tsuna's question.

Tsuna let out a sigh of exasperation. 'Obviously I won't be getting any answers out of him.' He thought bitterly. Tsuna turned around to try and figure out where he was. Apparently it was an alley, complete with sketchy dumpsters and beady rat eyes peeking out from the darkness. Tsuna shivered despite not being cold and gazed out of the alley to see a crowd of people. They were all huddled around out there and pointing at something. No matter how hard he craned his neck, Tsuna couldn't tell what they were looking at, but the red and blue emergency lights flashed off the alley's brick walls. Obviously, an accident had occurred close by. Tsuna started walking toward the scene when the other figure, who he had almost forgotten, shot their hand out to firmly clamp on Tsuna's shoulder and keep him from leaving.

Tsuna whipped around, annoyed. "What's your problem?! We need to go see if someone's hurt! What if it's one of my friends?" As soon as he said that, Tsuna instantly started worrying for his guardians. What if one of them was seriously hurt and he couldn't help them because some psycho, emo teenager had trapped him in an alley with a knife? Reborn wouldn't forgive him for abandoning his family and he probably wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

"I probably should kill you though. It is my job after all." The figure said as if he didn't have a vice like grip on Tsuna's shoulder. That was when Tsuna lost it.

"Stop talking about weird things! Someone out there is seriously injured and I can't just sit around and do nothing! What are you even going on about anyways?" He yelled, his patience finally snapped. He wrenched himself free of the figure who continued muttering nonsensical things and twirling his knife. Tsuna tried to push through the crowd, but oddly, no one seemed to notice him. As he got closer, it appeared to be a car accident where a car had hit a pedestrian. 'Gokudera…Yamamoto…All of you… Please be okay!' Tsuna wished feverishly as he tried vainly to see clearly.

All he was able to see of the body was an orange hoodie. And then there was a hand…with an orange ring? Wasn't he wearing his ring? Tsuna glanced at his hand to make sure the Vongola sky ring was in place and quietly sighed in relief when he saw it there, but then… that other ring looked so much like it. But wait. No one could see him…he hurt like hell…he looked almost translucent when he glanced at his reflection in a store window…

The figure's hand once again clamped down on Tsuna's shoulder. Tsuna slowly turned around to glance at his face, but all he could make out were two bright red eyes staring back at him. "I guess I can't kill you." The figure said, sending chills down Tsuna's spine. "I mean, you're already dead."

**A/N: First chapter! What do you think? I want to hear your opinions! Oh and the hooded figure is an OC, but he won't be sticking around for long, so please bear with it. Anyways, please review! Constructive criticism is appreciated, but no outright flaming please!**


	2. Chapter 2: Explanations

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or any of the characters!**

Chapter 2: Explanations

"What do you mean, I'm already-?" was all Tsuna got out before he and the figure were transported somewhere completely different. It was like a rather expensive hotel's lobby, except it was golden. The floor and walls were polished so brightly it hurt Tsuna's eyes and the only thing not gold were the pictures hanging on the walls and a couple potted plants. Only, the pictures were of violent things like war and death and the plants were only Venus fly traps. A bunch of other people milled around aimlessly, not even bothering to give Tsuna and the other figure a second glance. 'What on Earth have I gotten myself into?' Tsuna wondered as he watched a receptionist feed a rather large Venus flytrap a small rodent. The receptionist turned on her heel and walked behind the "hotel" counter. She motioned Tsuna and the hooded figure forward. The figure's hand pushed Tsuna up to the counter and the figure gave some sort of identification card to the receptionist.

"Um…" Tsuna addressed the receptionist after a few minutes who looked up, annoyed to be interrupted while she was typing things into her computer. "Where am I? Who are you guys? And what does that guy mean when he says I'm dead?"

The receptionist then turned her annoyed gaze on the hooded figure. "You mean you didn't tell him?!" She practically yelled.

"He didn't ask?" came the figure's feeble response, so different from the voice Tsuna had heard in the alley.

"You idiot! You're supposed to inform the client why they died, what's going to happen and the alternative option!" the cashier exploded at the figure. "Honestly Jack! If you weren't my stupid little brother, I would've fired your ass centuries ago!"

The figure, Jack, seemed to shrink before the terrifying woman. "He didn't ask and thought that was okay…"

"Okay?! You could've got us sued because you didn't read him his rights!"

"But no one's sued us before-"

"Just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't!" The lady sat back in her seat, exhausted from yelling so much. Tsuna continued to shift awkwardly as he watched the fight between siblings. The woman glanced at Tsuna with a look akin to pity. "Okay kid. Listen up. You're dead from a-" she glanced at her computer monitor, "car crash apparently. Ooh… that's rough. Anyways, do you remember your death?" she asked. Tsuna shook his head. "Thought so… Anyways, now that you're dead, you're qualified to go to heaven as you still have a pure spirit. That's quite an accomplishment considering you're a mafia boss. Now you have two options. You can accept your death and go to heaven, or you can go back to Earth in a spiritual form, settle any unfinished business, and then wait in this lobby for eternity. It's your call kid." She finished, looking at Tsuna expectantly.

"Wait a minute!" Tsuna cried, holding up his hands in the universal 'time-out' gesture. "Okay, even though it's crazy, I can accept that I'm dead. But I can go back to Earth?"

"Only for a short time. A week tops." The receptionist cut in.

"Okay, a week tops." Tsuna repeated. "But what about my family and everyone? What's going to happen to them?"

The receptionist sighed. "Were you not listening? That's the point of the second option! Settling your affairs includes seeing your family and friends."

"Fine, but what's this spiritual form? Does this mean they can see me or I have to possess and animal or something?" Tsuna asked.

"Oh no!" the receptionist laughed. "We stopped doing animal possession years ago because too many people got eaten by their relatives!" Tsuna sweatdropped. "Anyways, think about it like you're a poltergeist. Normal people can't see or hear you, but you can move inanimate objects around, make small items levitate, etc. However, if you know someone with a strong psychic ability, you may be able to actually communicate with people on Earth."

Tsuna mentally struggled with his decision. 'I could go to heaven…but…I don't want my family to suffer. They need some kind of reassurance so they can move on with their lives.' He looked up determinedly at the receptionist. "I want to fix things down on Earth" he said in a tone full of resolve.

The receptionist smiled. "I like this one." She whispered to Jack. She turned back to the brunette. "Alright. You'll go back to Earth, you have one week, and then you'll return to this lobby for all eternity. You agree to this?" Tsuna nodded. "Good. We need your signature." She stated pulling out a piece of parchment and a pen.

"I don't need to sign my name in blood?" Tsuna joked as he grabbed the pen.

"Nope. That was such a hassle! We had to keep getting sterile needles so no one got diseases and, believe me, those stains don't come out of clothes easily." She complained. Tsuna finished up his signature and the receptionist glanced over the document approvingly. "Now then." She started and motioned to Jack who moved next to Tsuna. "Jack here will be your guide. Don't worry, he won't be hovering over you, he's just there to make sure you get to Earth and back safely and that you don't screw up the boundaries of life and death too badly."

"Uh…" Tsuna started.

"Bye!" the receptionist said in a bright voice as she pushed a button behind the counter. Tsuna's world was suddenly flipped upside down as the golden hotel lobby disappeared and he landed with a thud back in the alley. He sat up rubbing his head, sore but glad to be back on earth. Now he just had to try and make the most of his remaining time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Back at the Lobby~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, I hope he'll be okay!" A tall blonde man fretted as he paced the lobby rapidly.

The receptionist looked up, exasperated. "For the hundredth time, he'll be fine! I mean, he is your descendent."

"But what if-!"

"Don't even start! One more word and I'll throw you into a Venus flytrap, Giotto!" the receptionist glared the first Vongola boss down. "Honestly…" she muttered.

"Come on Giotto." Another figure said, patting Giotto on the back. "He'll be fine."

"I'll pray for him TO THE MAXIMUM!"

"Nufufufu… this should prove interesting"

"Hn."

"So loud… I was sleeping."

"Shut up, stupid cow! Giotto, you need to man up. You know Tsuna will be fine."

"Thank you, G." Giotto said looking up at his family. "I do know, but I can't help but worry."

**A/N: Hahaha I just had to throw the first family in... Anyways, I'm putting two chapters up so people have a good idea of the story, but the updates (if I choose to continue) are probably going to be a chapter a week. Yup. Great idea. If you have two unfinished fanfics already, start another! I'm so smart...**

**Anyways, please review! Thanks! :D**


	3. Chapter 3: Start Over

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or any of the characters**

Chapter 3: Start Over

"Owww…" Tsuna groaned as he sat up rubbing his head. 'Back in the alley' he thought. He looked around and saw the hooded figure, Jack, staring at him. Jack lowered his hood and Tsuna could see he was young, perhaps 17, had chin length blonde hair and an apathetic expression. The only color that seemed to be in his face came from his startlingly red eyes.

"Here are the rules." Jack began, not bothering to wait for Tsuna to adjust to his surroundings. "You are now a poltergeist, meaning normal people on Earth can no longer see or hear you. However, you are able to move objects around, but only objects that you could already move. For example, you can't lift a car or whatever, but you could knock over a chair. Then again, you can still go into your Hyper Dying Will Mode and demolish a wall or something, but to people here it would just look like the wall was blasted inward with no outward force acting upon it. You get me so far?"

Tsuna nodded to show he understood. "Good. Now this will be the case for six days. On the seventh, something special happens. You will be visible and audible to people on Earth, but you can't move things around. In simpler terms if, on the seventh day, you decided to punch through a wall, your fist would go through it and the wall would remain intact. Still with me?"

Tsuna nodded again, processing the overwhelming amount of information he was receiving. "There are also some basic guidelines you need to follow. Number One: you can't hurt anyone here whether directly or indirectly. And by can't, I mean you are physically incapable of doing it. For example, if you were going to knock over a bookcase and someone was in the way, you wouldn't be able to knock over that bookcase. Number Two: You can tell people you are dead, but you can't tell them about anything in the afterlife. We're trying to maintain the mystery and all that jazz. Don't know why. It's just a lobby with crappy music, well unless you go to heaven or hell that is. Anyways. Number Three: You cannot save people from death. If they're going to get hit by a bus, it's predetermined that they will get hit by a bus. Messing with the strings of fate is a lot of paperwork. Well, actually there is a way you can save someone from death… If they are going to die and it's not predetermined…ah, but that probably won't happen. And finally, Number Four: There are no extensions or outrunning the time limit. In exactly seven days you will be instantaneously transported back to the lobby for the rest of eternity. Any questions?" Jack finished.

"Um, what are you here for then?" Tsuna asked hesitantly.

"I will transport you to different locations if, for instance, a relative lives in a country other than the one you are in and I'm also here to make sure you don't screw up the boundaries that separate those on Earth and those who stay in the hotel lobby." Jack stated.

"Oh, and how would I be able to contact you if I need to go somewhere?"

"…Uh…Yell really loudly?" Tsuna sweatdropped.

"Er…thanks I guess." Tsuna said.

"Anyways," Jack scratched the back of his neck sheepishly when a thought dawned on him. "Oh right!" he yelled. He rummaged through his pockets before producing a blue pill which he proudly handed to Tsuna. "This is for emergencies only. That means emergencies as in 'Omigosh this person's death wasn't predetermined and he's about to get eaten by rabid wolves' level bad. This pill will make you alive in all senses of the word for exactly five minutes. However, after those five minutes, you'll be taken back to the lobby for eternity immediately afterwards, regardless of how many days you have left."

"That's pretty confusing…" Tsuna stated.

"Ah, don't worry about it. You probably won't need the pill." Jack said. Then he snapped his fingers and Tsuna's world turned upside down once more. Once Tsuna managed to clear his head, he saw that he was in front of... his house? He looked around, but Jack was nowhere to be seen. "Alright." Came Jack's voice, startling Tsuna. "Your seven days begins…now!" And Jack's voice faded away. His intuition told him that he was alone and, with a trembling hand, Tsuna slowly reached for the doorknob.

**A/N: Another chapter?! Are they insane?! No... I just had no homework tonight. (*gasp* that's impossible!) So I worked on my fanfic... I might update again this weekend too. Y'all are just so lucky this week... Anyways, was that confusing for anyone? I'll try and explain it again here.**

**Days 1-6: Tsuna can move things around, but no one can see/hear him**

**Day 7: People can see/hear him, but he can't move things around**

**Blue Pill: Gives him life for five minutes but then he is immediately transported back to the lobby.**

**That better? I stink at explanations... Sorry that this is mainly an informatory chapter. I'll try and work in the guardians on the next one, so please hang in there! Anyways. I have no idea how long this story is going to be. Hopefully it won't go over 10 chapters cuz I'm already writing two other stories, but who knows? *shrugs* What will really decide this is if you all REVIEW! It motivates me to write more! :D**


	4. Chapter 4: How to Heal

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or any of the characters.**

Chapter 4: How to Heal

Tsuna twisted the doorknob and it swung open with a slight creak. He hastily shut the door behind himself to conserve heat and glanced around. It was as if he never left, everything still in its original place, but it seemed…different. Empty. There were no children running around; no afro-haired boy with cow horns chasing an oval headed girl in a martial arts uniform while a slightly older boy with a striped scarf attempted to calm them. He didn't hear Nana whistling in the kitchen as she fixed lunch, as she usually did this time of the day, while a small fedora wearing tutor casually polished his guns.

No, the house was silent, and Tsuna felt all the more worried as he didn't encounter anyone within five minutes of standing in the entrance way. He gulped nervously and walked around the house, only to let out an unheard shriek as he almost knocked an expensive vase to the ground, narrowly catching it before it shattered.

He finally made it to the kitchen without demolishing his house to find Nana completely asleep on the table. She had deep bags under her eyes and her clothes were wrinkled as though she had been sleeping in them. Tsuna felt his heart sink. How was he supposed to cheer his mother up? Cook some food? He would just burn it and most likely set the house on fire. Do some cleaning? He would probably create a bigger mess.

Finally he just gave a resigned sigh. He gave his mother a hug and looked at her one last time, tears gathering in his eyes though she couldn't see him. Despite the fact that she could not hear her own son, he whispered, "I love you mom. I'll come back on my last day so I can thank you properly." And with that, he opened the front door and was gone.

Not a minute after Tsuna had left, Nana sat up with a shock. "Tsuna?" she asked unbelievingly. Her only answer was quiet.

**A/N: Okay okay! *dodges brick* I know it's short, but I'm going to write another chapter (probably) within the next three days, so please don't be mad! I just wanted to show Tsuna's mother first because she's so often forgotten, even though she must be an incredibly strong woman...**

**Anywho, please review! I'll try and throw a guardian in the next chapter, so tell me who you want to see! :D**


	5. Chapter 5: Storm Watch

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or any of the characters**

Chapter 5: Storm Watch

"Jack!" Tsuna yelled as he stood outside his house. "I need to get to…um… wherever one of my guardians is!" Tsuna had been worried for his Family eversince he learned that he was dead. In a matter of minutes, Jack stood in front of him with a scowl on his face.

"This better be good. I was watching…extremely educational documentaries." He stumbled over his excuse.

"Right…" Tsuna said, his eyes showing that he didn't buy it. "Can you take me to wherever my right hand man is?"

"Was there a please in that sentence?" Jack muttered, but he snapped his fingers and the world started to blur again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The woods~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Tsuna finally managed to reorient himself, he found he was standing amongst hundreds of trees. No one else was in sight. "Jack!" Tsuna yelled at the sky. "Is this a joke? It's not funny!" Tsuna was interrupted by a large booming noise behind him. That could only mean…

"Damn it!" Gokudera yelled as another stick of dynamite nearly blew him off his feet. He pulled out another and threw it with all his might into the middle of the clearing. Trees exploded into splinters and he had to cover his eyes to avoid getting dirt in them.

"Gokudera, stop!" Tsuna yelled, forgetting that his guardian couldn't hear him. 'Hiiiieee how do I stop him?' Tsuna mentally panicked.

Gokudera continued throwing dynamite. 'Damn, damn, damn! If only I had been faster. If only I had been stronger! It wouldn't have happened! It's my fault.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback! Yay!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Gokudera, Tsuna and Yamamoto had just been walking back to Tsuna's place from school. Yamamoto was laughing as per usual and Gokudera was yelling at him to keep his hands off Tsuna. Tsuna was attempting to calm Gokudera down (it wasn't working) and put away his dynamite ("Woah cool firecrackers!" "They aren't firecrackers, baseball idiot!") It was a perfectly normal day._

_They were almost home. Nothing eventful had happened. Then, as they were crossing, there was a squeal of tires. Shrieking pedestrians. Someone yelled Tsuna's name. Gokudera was suddenly shoved out of the road by someone. Was it Tsuna? Suddenly, there was a crunching noise of metal and a sickly thud. When Gokudera managed to open his eyes, his boss and best friend lay in the road, eyes closed, as if sleeping. Gokudera was begging him to open his eyes, to tell him everything was alright. Yamamoto stood behind him in a state of shock._

_The rest of the memories passed in a blur. The paramedics came. They said comforting words, not that any of it ever reached Gokudera. The rest of the guardians gathered at the hospital, but they all knew it was hopeless. His sister called from Italy and tried to talk to him, but he didn't feel better in the least. All that he could comprehend was that his beloved Sky was dead and he couldn't do a damn thing about it._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback over~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gokudera tortured himself wondering if Tsuna pushed him out of the road as the car was coming. What if it was his fault Tsuna died? If Tsuna hadn't risked his life for his, would he still be alive? 'Why?' Gokudera asked. 'Would he save me when his life is so much more important?' But deep down, he knew the answer. Tsuna would've saved anyone from the car, that's just the kind of person he was. He would've gladly given his life for a stranger, even an enemy.

Tsuna watched sadly as Gokudera beat himself up both physically and mentally. 'I have to do something…' He ran over to Gokudera and managed to snuff out the flame on the stick of dynamite he was preparing to throw.

"What the hell?" Gokudera growled. He relit it, only to have Tsuna snuff it out again. "This is ridiculous…" No matter how many times he lit the dynamite, it appeared to be blown out by the wind. He cursed and finally dropped his lighter and the dynamite. "Hmph. That annoying girl would say that it's a sign, but I don't believe in all that spiritual crap." He sat down on a rock. "Tsuna… what would you say if you saw me now? Would you be disappointed in your right hand man?" he laughed hollowly. "Although, I don't deserve to be your right hand anymore."

"That's not true, Gokudera!" Tsuna protested. Of course, Gokudera didn't respond.

"I'm weak. You had to save my life twice! I truly am a failure as your guardian. I was supposed to protect you." Gokudera said, clenching his fists around some dynamite. "What do I do now? Can there be a storm without the sky?"

"Gokudera…" Tsuna said, gazing sadly at his best friend.

"Why can't I ever protect the things that matter the most to me?"

Tsuna cursed his condition. Cursed that he could not comfort his friend when he was hurting. He sat down on the rock next to Gokudera and picked up a discarded stick of dynamite. He lit it with his sky flame and set it down on the rock before getting up and walking away. "I'm sorry Gokudera…Sorry I can't tell you how much I care about you guys, at least not yet."

Gokudera looked at the spot next to him in shock. A stick of dynamite had appeared there and was lit, but it wasn't burning down the wick! The flame looked familiar… almost like his boss'. He hesitantly reached out towards it.

The flame flared up to touch his fingers and suddenly Gokudera felt a sense of calm and happiness build up in himself. The flame continued to burn brightly for a few minutes, filling him with a sense of peace he hadn't felt since before the accident, before extinguishing and leaving only wisps of smoke. "Are you telling me not to be sad Juudaime? Maybe I'll believe in signs just this once…"

**A/N: And Gokudera! *applause* okay so I don't usually write touchy feely stuff. You can probably see that in this chapter. Anywho, I'll follow that suggestion to write all the guardians in the order they were introduced (or close to it) so Yamamoto will be up next. Also, this marks the end of Tsuna's first out of seven days. Only six days left and I have so much stuff to put in! I'm not even sure how many of the characters I should include... I mean, I doubt I could do much with the Varia and all that jazz.**

**Anyways, enough rambling. Please, please review! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favorited my other chapters! You're all awesome! :D**


	6. Chapter 6: Standing in the Rain

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or any of the characters.**

Chapter 6: Standing in the Rain

Tsuyoshi knocked gently on the door to his son's room. "Takeshi, dinner's ready."

"Thanks dad, but I'm really not hungry."

Tsuyoshi sighed. "You can't starve yourself Takeshi. You haven't eaten in days."

"…"

"I'm leaving the food outside your door." He said, setting a plate of sushi outside the room.

"Okay. Thanks."

Takeshi's father sighed and went back downstairs to wash dishes. "I'll give him one more day. After that I'll stuff the food down his throat."

~~~~~Where Tsuna is~~~~~

"Jack!" Tsuna yelled at the empty sky.

The tired response of, "What the crap do you want?" is what Tsuna got in return. The air in front of the brunette rippled and Jack appeared with a scowl on his face.

"I-I want to visit my rain guardian," Tsuna replied. Though he was slightly intimidated by the scowl, having to deal with Gokudera and the Varia on a regular basis left him mostly immune to its effects.

"Fine," Jack said, snapping his fingers. The air blurred again and suddenly Tsuna was standing in front of Yamamoto's sushi shop. "Feel free not to call again," Jack growled, disappearing into thin air. Tsuna sighed, scratched his head and entered the shop.

~~~~~The Sushi Shop~~~~~

When he entered, Tsuna could see the shop was full of customers, but Yamamoto was not waiting tables like usual. 'Now where could he be?' Tsuna wondered. He began walking around, in the process managing to break 3 plates, 2 cups and almost knocked over a customer. "Hiiiieee! I'm sorry!" Tsuna yelled before realizing the man couldn't hear him. He sighed. 'I seem to be doing that a lot lately,' he thought as he continued to search for Yamamoto.

~~~~~Yamamoto's room~~~~~

Yamamoto sat on the edge of his bed holding a baseball with an out of place expression of concentration on his face. 'Could I have saved him?' he wondered as he tossed the ball up into the air and caught it.

~~~~~Flashback~~~~~

_Yamamoto had been joking with Gokudera who seemed to get louder and more convinced that dynamite was necessary with every word Yamamoto spoke. Yamamoto wasn't stupid, he knew it was dynamite, he just pretended it was a game. It was just a coping mechanism so he wouldn't freak out over the insane turn his life had taken since he met Tsuna. Of course, he would never resent Tsuna for it, as the brunette too had been unwillingly forced into the mafia._

_That day, they were crossing the street when suddenly the squeal of tires was heard. Yamamoto's extremely sharpened instincts had allowed him to jump backwards quickly, but he watched in horror as Gokudera seemed frozen to the spot. The huge car continued barreling down the road and would collide with Gokudera if he didn't move RIGHT NOW. _

_He was about to go after the bomber, when suddenly Gokudera was shoved out of the path of the car by Tsuna. There was a huge sickening crunch. After that, paramedics came and the other guardians visited the hospital. It was too late. Later, they had a funeral service after which all the guardians had gone their separate ways. Yamamoto had locked himself in his room, refusing to leave, ever since._

~~~~~Flashback over~~~~~

'I ran away. Like a coward. I let him die,' Yamamoto thought as he caught the baseball for the umpteenth time. 'I just don't know what to do anymore.'

Tsuna finally arrived at Yamamoto's room, breathing heavily as he had run all over the store looking for him. He was stunned to see his rain guardian without his trademark smile and carefree demeanor. He began searching vigorously around the room to try and find something that would cheer Yamamoto up, but to no avail.

Yamamoto suddenly stood up and chucked the baseball towards the open window. 'Not like I'll need this anymore,' he thought, watching the thing that had once brought him joy sail through empty space. 'Nothing seems to bring me happiness anymore.'

"Hiiiieee!" Tsuna screamed as the ball streaked right towards his face. With the reflexes gained only from having Reborn shoot at him every day of his life, he managed to catch the ball before it hit his chest. Slightly stunned by the guardian's sudden action, he almost dropped the ball, but managed to keep a grip on it and let out a sigh of relief.

This was short lived as he heard an exclamation of, "What-?!" in front of him. Tsuna looked up to see Yamamoto gazing in shock at him or, more specifically, at the apparently magical floating baseball.

Tsuna sweatdropped. 'So much for being subtle… I would make the worst assassin…' Tsuna groaned at the thought of what Reborn would say about his nonexistent stealth. He then gazed back to his friend. "I want you to be happy like you used to be… This isn't you." He covered the baseball with his dying will flames and tossed it back to Yamamoto who seemed to catch it robotically, mouth still wide open.

As soon as Yamamoto caught the ball, he felt a pleasant sensation creep over him, almost as if the car accident had never happened. The flames were the same color of Tsuna's, he observed in wonder.

"So is this your answer, Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked, holding up the baseball. The flames died out but resolve remained in his eyes. Yamamoto smiled his first genuine smile since the night of the accident. "Okay!" He said cheerfully, his voice breaking a little. He wiped some stray tears from his eyes. "I'll never let go of anything important to me again!" Yamamoto pocketed the baseball and ran out of his room and down the steps to the store.

Tsuna smiled as he watched the rain guardian filled with new hope. He could faintly hear Yamamoto talking excitedly to his father. 'That's all I can do here… I wonder what happened to the kids…'

**A/N: Annnnnddddd done! *dodges bricks* So it's been a while... Yeah, I know, I suck. *sigh* Things have been pretty hectic with the holidays and all and my finals are coming up, so I have no idea when I'll be able to update next... Sorry to everyone who reads this! I'll try and keep my chapter a week target, but that probably won't work out very well... Hopefully by January my schedule won't be so insane...**

**The next guardian is Lambo! That should be interesting...**

**Anyways, Please Review!**


	7. Chapter 7:Lightning Strikes

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR**

Chapter 7: Lightning Strikes

"Young Master Bovino!" one of the maids yelled. "Please stop running around! You could break something and hurt yourself!"

"Lambo-sama wants Tsuna-nii! Waaaahh!" Lambo yelled as he ran in circles around the Vongola mansion. He had been staying there with the other kids ever since Tsuna's death and driving the butlers and maids crazy demanding his big brother.

Of course, Lambo wasn't stupid, contrary to popular belief. He'd been old enough to realize Tsuna wasn't coming back, but so young that he couldn't control his emotions. The first day he'd been uncharacteristically quiet and refused to talk to anyone, even Fuuta and I-pin, but after that he'd been crying pretty much nonstop.

~~~~~Where Tsuna is~~~~~

"Jack!" Tsuna yelled, glancing around for the bad tempered grim reaper.

"I hate you." Tsuna whirled around to see the blonde glaring holes into him. "I don't have any free time anymore because I have to be 24/7 in the travel area so I can legalize your trips to God knows where. I could be reading manga, but nooooo. Instead I'm teleporting your butt around the world!"

"Er, I'm sorry?"

"You should be." Jack rolled his eyes. "Where to this time?"

"I want to see my lighting guardian… I think the kids would all be in one place."

"Your intuition is right. Shocking." Jack sighed. "Okay, now… To Italy!" he snapped his fingers and the world flipped in circles.

Tsuna landed on the ground hard. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that," he said as he stumbled and attempted to gather his thoughts. "Hm, the Vongola mansion, huh? I guess that makes sense." Tsuna headed for the tall iron gates of the estate.

~~~~~Flashback~~~~~

_Lambo had been enjoying a large grape lollipop while Fuuta messed around in his ranking book and I-pin practiced her martial arts moves. They were all waiting for Tsuna's return from school at his house. 'Gyahahaha!' Lambo thought. 'When Tsuna-nii gets home I'll throw my new toy (read: grenade) at him! Maybe I'll finally beat that jerk Reborn and the stupid octopus head too!'_

_Suddenly, the phone rang and Nana stopped fixing an afternoon snack to answer it. She gave the children a bright smile, which they returned, and picked up the phone while continuing to whisk batter._

_"Hello?" Not a minute later the bowl dropped from Nana's hands to the floor. The sound of shattering dishes caused all the children to look up. "Oh my God… I'll be there as soon as I can!" Nana said before hurriedly hanging the phone up. She turned to the children. "Everyone get to the car!" She said, using a tone that none of the children had ever heard before. It was commanding, but also full of fear. Lambo could see the worry in her eyes._

_"Mama, what's wrong?" Lambo asked as Nana buckled him in._

_"It's Tsuna." Was the only explanation he got before the car screeched out of the driveway to the hospital. _

_Once there, the kids clambered out and Lambo wrinkled his sensitive nose at the smell of the hospital. Nana frantically talked to one of the nurses who pointed them in the direction of the elevators. On the 27__th__ floor, they all but ran out, even the children sensed the matter was serious. _

_In the hospital room, Tsuna lay on the bed with a bunch of tubes running out of him and monitors everywhere beeping. Gokudera sat on a chair, shell-shocked, while Yamamoto stared out the window, his eyes not really seeing anything. Soon the other guardians arrived._

_The last thing Lambo remembered about that day was being dragged out of the room by Fuuta, crying for his brother to get up while Nana continued to wait in one of the chairs. She offered Lambo a shaky smile, as if to say it would all be okay, but it wasn't. Lambo had a gut wrenching feeling in his stomach that it would be the last time he ever saw Tsuna._

_~~~~~After that~~~~~_

_The next few days after that were rough. He, I-pin and Fuuta were shuffled around as they couldn't stay at Tsuna's place any longer now that he wasn't there to protect them. Other families would target the children because of their powerful abilities, so they had to keep moving to avoid being kidnapped. Eventually, the Vongola decided the safest place would be the Vongola mansion and the Shimon family would stay in a nearby town in case anything were to happen._

_Occasionally Enma or one of his guardians would come up to visit, but all the kids seemed to have forgotten how to smile. Fuuta seemed to have his head in the clouds even more than usual and I-pin was constantly in the training room, determined to get so strong that no one around her would ever be hurt again. She only stopped to sleep after one of the maids saw her collapse from exhaustion._

_Bad news came that, since the Decimo was no longer in charge, no one could look after the children. Nana would've gladly taken them in, but she couldn't protect them from rival families and the only reason they were safe before because other families feared the Decimo, his guardians and all their allies annihilating them. Now that the Vongola were in a state of chaos without a Boss, their enemies were getting bolder in their attacks. Since the Decimo had not made clear what would happen to the children should he die, the Vongola had no legal right to hold on to the kids. The only way they could protect them was if the Decimo had given his personal permission to allow them to continue living in the mansion._

_There were talks of hiding the children in CEDEF or even asking one of the Arcobaleno to protect them, but all of the ideas had some kind of flaw. The Bovino family had determined that, without the Decimo, they were free to reclaim Lambo, thus tearing him from the only real family he'd ever had. _

~~~~~Flashback over~~~~~

"Wow…" Tsuna said as he walked through the maze of a mansion. "This place is bigger than I remember." His ears suddenly perked up when he heard an unusual sound.

"WAAAAHHHH!"

"Yup," he muttered. "That's definitely Lambo. I wonder what happened…" Tsuna ran towards the source of the crying noise. He finally arrived at an office room where Lambo was crying and rolling on the floor while I-pin and Fuuta stood protectively in front of him. They glared down two men in black suits who looked really confused.

"Come on, kid," the first one said. "There's no need to cry… we're just taking you back to the family."

"Lambo-sama doesn't want to go back!" Lambo bawled. "I want Mama! Waaahhh!"

"You'll get to see everyone at the Bovino mansion again though." The second one attempted to persuade Lambo. "We'll even give you some grape candy."

"I only want candy from Tsuna-nii!" The men sighed.

"You heard him!" Fuuta yelled. "Go away! We're his family!" I-pin nodded, still in her martial arts stance.

'I really don't understand what's going on…' Tsuna said as he observed the scene. 'But I have to do something… Think. What could be going wrong…' Then he realized it. 'Oh right… I never gave the word for what should happen to the kids if I'm not here…' he facepalmed his own stupidity. 'Okay…' he looked around frantically. 'I need paper and a pen…'

The men were pretty fed up at this point and were just about to shove past the two kids when a huge blast of orange dying will flames flung the men backwards. They were flung out the door of the mansion and landed on the stone walkway while the mansion's doors locked them out. The kids froze, even Lambo stopped his tirade on the ground. The flames looked so much like their nii-san's but…

Suddenly, a single piece of paper floated to the ground bearing a dying will seal that burned a bright orange. Fuuta picked it up and read it out loud.

_I, Sawada Tsunayoshi, as the Vongola Decimo hereby give permission to Fuuta, I-pin and Lambo Bovino to stay in the Vongola mansion as long as they wish. Furthermore, said persons are under complete Vongola family protection and any attack on them is an attack on the entire Family._

Lambo stared at the paper. "Tsuna-nii…" he said as he remembered the kind brunette who never seemed to get mad or fed up with him. "Stupid Tsuna-nii… Lambo-sama doesn't need your help…" he said before bursting out in tears all over again. Fuuta smiled, on the verge of tears himself while I-pin was sobbing alongside him.

"Come on, Lambo!" he said brightly. "Let's go tell Enma-nii the good news."

Tsuna smiled as he watched the kids walk out of the room together. "They'll be okay," He said to himself.

**A/N: Uh... yeah... I haven't been updating and I suck... I know. *cries* B-But I had exams and a bunch of other stuff and I have like 4 other incomplete fanfics and... okay I know, no excuse. I just suck. But thanks for hanging in there! You are all awesome.**

**So the next guardian I'll be writing for is Ryohei TO THE EXTREME! :D He's one of my favorite characters...**

**So I'll ask you to review! That'd be awesome! :D**


	8. Chapter 8: An extremely bright sun

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR**

Chapter 8: An extremely bright sun

~~~~~Where Tsuna is~~~~~

'Too bad I don't have any earplugs…' Tsuna thought. 'They'd help when Jack chews me out every time I call him.' He shrugged.

"Jack!" he yelled loudly, causing the blonde grim reaper to pop out of nowhere. The teen grumbled and stuffed a manga book into the folds of his robe.

"Where to next?" he said in a bored, resigned voice.

"Where my sun guardian is," Tsuna replied.

"Oh, isn't that the one that yells all the time?" Jack muttered to himself. He shrugged and snapped his fingers, causing the world to spin.

"Can't we do something else for teleportation?" Tsuna asked, feeling nauseous.

"I'll look into it," Jack answered in a tone that sounded like he was saying he would do the exact opposite. "Go have fun. Call again. Or don't. I don't care anymore," Jack said before fading away.

Tsuna rolled his eyes. "Maybe if I buy him a manga, he won't get mad at me next time," he muttered before heading off in search of Ryohei.

~~~~~Where Kyoko is~~~~~

Kyoko anxiously watched the door as she cleared her plates and started to wash them in the sink. Her brother had still not returned from his morning jog and he'd left an hour ago. His food was most likely stone cold at this point. She bit her lip as she dried her glass off. Lately, he'd been staying out later and later, and when he came home he'd look like he was ready to collapse.

Tsuna's death had taken its toll on everyone, Kyoko was no exception. She'd cried and holed herself up in her room for an entire day, skipping school which was very uncharacteristic for her. Half of that day she'd spent bawling on the phone with Haru, who'd suggested they get together some time to talk about it. After talking with her friend, Kyoko had picked herself up, realizing that Tsuna would probably not want her to spend her entire life crying.

Unfortunately, her brother seemed to grow more and more distant. At first, he'd tried to be tough, comforting Kyoko as best he could, but she could see that Tsuna's death was extremely hard for her brother to cope with. In fact, Kyoko couldn't remember hearing her brother yell 'EXTREME' since the accident.

Kyoko continued to worry her lip as she wrapped a plastic sheet around her brother's breakfast and stuck it in the fridge. He'd warm it up whenever he got back and she hoped it was soon. She wrote a note on a post it and stuck it on top of the meal saying she'd gone out to buy some groceries and would be back around lunch time. As Kyoko grabbed the money for errands, she cast a long look at the photo stuck to the fridge.

It was a picture of her and Haru along with Tsuna and all his guardians. She'd somehow managed to get them all (excluding Hibari and Gokudera) to smile for a brief second while the picture was taken. 'Onii-san,' she thought. 'Will you smile like that again?'

~~~~~Where Ryohei is~~~~~

How long had he been running? A mile? Two? Ten? Ryohei had lost count a while ago. His feet beat along the sidewalk in a steady rhythm. Left, right, left, right. He was breathing heavily, but he barely noticed it. Ryohei almost crashed into a person walking to work, muttering out a quick apology before continuing, trying to regain his stride. He was too preoccupied with the thoughts swirling through his head.

'Why wasn't I there?' he thought. 'Why couldn't I have skipped practice? For one day, why couldn't I have decided to walk my little brother home?'

~~~~~EXTREME Flashback~~~~~

_"Oi, Sawada!" Ryohei jogged up to Tsuna, Yamamoto and Gokudera as they exited the school._

_"Oh, onii-san! What's up?" Tsuna asked._

_"The boxing club has an EXTREME match tomorrow! I EXTREMELY want you all to come!" Ryohei yelled, raising his bandaged fists into the air._

_"I'll be there onii-san," Tsuna said, smiling._

_"Haha, me too, senpai!" Yamamoto laughed._

_"Che. Well, if the Tenth's going, I will too," Gokudera grumbled, a scowl on his face._

_"EXTREME!" Ryohei yelled. "I EXTREMELY have to go to practice! Be careful walking home TO THE EXTREME!" Tsuna and Yamamoto had waved goodbye (Gokudera just crossed his arms and made a 'tsk'ing noise) and Ryohei had ran off to the locker room._

_He'd just gotten home from practice when Kyoko ran up to him and shoved him out the door. He was pretty confused, but his blood ran cold when Kyoko said that Tsuna had been in an accident. Ryohei froze for a minute before grabbing Kyoko's wrist and dragging her with him to the hospital._

_They both arrived breathing heavily as they had sprinted from their house. Ryohei had seen the grim faces on Gokudera and Yamamoto and Tsuna's mother was burying her face in her hands while the children whispered quietly at her side. Kyoko had burst into tears and buried her face in Ryohei's hoodie while he just stared at Tsuna in shock. He wrapped his arm around Kyoko, the situation not really registering in his mind. How could his boss, who'd gone through so much and been so strong, be taken from the world so easily? It wasn't fair._

_'What if,' Ryohei had thought. 'I had walked home with them. What if I had saw the car coming first. What if, what if, what if.' There was one thought that haunted Ryohei. _

_'What if I could've saved him?'_

~~~~~Where Tsuna is~~~~~

He'd been sitting awkwardly on the couch in the Sasagawa house for a while. Even though he knew no one would be able to see him, he still felt extremely out of place. He sighed and ran a hand through his spiky brown hair.

'He's been gone a long time' Tsuna thought. 'Maybe I should go look for him.' Tsuna got off the couch and started to head for the door. He'd just touched the doorknob when it suddenly swung open to admit a very tired looking Ryohei. The sun guardian shuffled to the microwave and shoveled down the cold breakfast before draining a water bottle and tossing his dishes in the sink.

Tsuna vaguely heard him mutter, "I'll wash 'em later." Before Ryohei flopped down on the couch Tsuna had just been sitting on and promptly passed out. Tsuna sweatdropped as he watched Ryohei snore.

His awkward fidgeting grew into concern as he noticed certain things about his guardian. Ryohei had obviously ran a very long distance, and he'd not even bothered to remove his shoes when he'd fallen asleep. The sun guardian's knuckles were also cut up as if he'd spent half the morning at the gym boxing and the treads on his sneakers were almost nonexistent from his extensive training.

'He's acting like Gokudera, though he'd probably get mad if I said that,' Tsuna thought. 'He's going to train himself to death if I don't do something…' Tsuna sighed, drawing a blank on ideas. He threw his hands up and did what little he could.

Tsuna washed all the dishes in the sink, putting them away in the cupboard as well, and mentally congratulated himself on not dropping any. He then got Ryohei's shoes off his feet and adjusted him so he wouldn't wake up with a crick in his neck. Tsuna finally wet a washcloth and placed it on the sun guardian's head to cool him off. He then stood back and wondered what else he could do.

As he pondered, a glint of light shined out of the corner of his eye, drawing Tsuna's attention. The source of the light was the bright yellow ring on Ryohei's finger, his proof of being a Vongola guardian. Tsuna smiled lightly.

"I know it's not much," Tsuna murmured. "But I can do this for you." Tsuna tapped the photo stuck to the fridge, lighting it with his flames. He grinned at the picture of his guardians, his friends, frozen in that one happy moment. He turned back to the unconscious sun guardian. "Don't be sad, onii-san. It 'EXTREMELY' doesn't suit you." Tsuna left wondering where he could buy manga so he wouldn't get yelled at again.

~~~~~30 minutes later~~~~~

Ryohei sat up feeling pleasantly refreshed. He noticed the washcloth lying on his head and sat up holding it. "Kyoko?" he called. There was no response. He glanced at the clock to see that it was still about another hour before she would return home. Ryohei frowned and trudged over to the sink to rinse out his plates, only to find they had been put away already.

He was confused about what was happening, and that certainly wasn't helped when he spotted a burning orange flame on the fridge. So he did what any normal person would do when confronted with a burning object. He reached out and touched it.

Suddenly, he was filled with a sense of peace and happiness, much like what he felt on the day the picture had been taken. His memories of the day flooded back. That day had been beautiful; All of them had gone to the park to mess around and, somehow, Hibari, Mukuro and Chrome had been dragged along. It was a miracle that Hibari didn't bite anyone to death for crowding. Ryohei then heard Tsuna's voice waft through his head.

_"Don't be sad, onii-san. It 'EXTREMELY' doesn't suit you."_ Ryohei could practically see the smile Tsuna would have on his face while he said the words. His eyes hurt from holding back tears.

"Alright, Sawada. I know. Now I'll have to be strong TO THE EXTREME!" He let out a shaky laugh, when he heard the doorknob turn behind him. He gave the picture one last long look before running to the door to help Kyoko with the groceries.

**A/N: Ryohei is awesome. And fun to write for. I really liked this chapter, but Ryohei seemed really depressed in it. I guess it fits and all, but it's weird to write for him and not put a lot of "EXTREME" in his sentences. *shrugs***

**So I guess the next guardian is Mr. I'll bite you to death. Oh joy. *bangs head on table* askfjdskla I can't write Hibari! :P *goes off to cry in emo corner***

**Anywho, I might not to update for a couple weeks. Maybe, maybe not. Let's just see how things play out.**

**So, please review! Thanks for all the attention this story is getting! :D You are all so aweso-,er..., EXTREME!**


	9. Chapter 9: Wandering Cloud

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

Chapter 9: Wandering Cloud

~~~~~Where Tsuna is~~~~~

Tsuna sweatdropped as he stared at the manga in his hands. 'Does Jack even like Bleach? What if he hates it and becomes even more uncooperative? Is it even possible for him to be more uncooperative?' He sighed heavily. 'Oh well… worth a shot.'

"Jack!" He yelled, waiting for the other teen to appear. And soon he did; only this time he held what looked like a party popper in his hand. He had an expression that said, 'Please, kill me now.'

Jack sighed heavily and muttered under his breath, "I hate my life. Death. Whatever." With a demeanor of great self-loathing, he pulled the string and the popper exploded with a loud bang, showering Tsuna with confetti. Tsuna blinked in confusion before shaking his head to dislodge any confetti squares stuck in his spiky brown hair.

The teen grim reaper then said, "Congratulations. This marks the beginning of your third day. Be aware that you have only today and four more after this to set straight any affairs you believe need attending to. Thank you for your cooperation." The entire speech was delivered in a dull monotone that caused Tsuna to sweatdrop once again.

"Er, was that necessary?" he asked.

"Management believes so," the red eyed teen replied, rolling his eyes.

"If it makes you feel better, I got you something," Tsuna said, nervously offering the manga. The reaper's eyes got wider and he practically ripped the book from the Decimo's hands.

"Where do you want to go?! New York? Tokyo? Heck, I'll take you to Antarctica!" Jack said excitedly, eyes shining.

Tsuna held up his hands to try and calm down the other teen. "Er, I just want to see my Cloud guardian."

"You got it," Jack said, snapping his fingers. They landed in the middle of an office, said guardian not ten feet from where they were standing. "Alright, you know the drill," Jack said, drawing Tsuna's attention away from Hibari. "Thanks for the manga."

'That was weird,' Tsuna thought, watching Jack fade away. He shook his head and turned back to Hibari, who brushed right past him holding a stack of papers. The Cloud guardian dropped them on the desk in the office.

"Reports," he said shortly, eyeing the worker behind the desk. The clerk seemed to shrink before Hibari's intimidating aura. Hibari continued to stare down at the man. "Are there any new missions?"

The man quickly shuffled through his papers before holding up a manila folder stamped 'CLASSIFIED' in bright red. "It's a mission to destroy a base of a rival family in the United States." Hibari snatched the folder out of the man's hands. "But, sir-!" the man protested, causing Hibari to whip around and glare at him.

"What, herbivore?" he growled in a threatening tone.

"I-It's just…," the man stuttered. Hibari grew impatient.

"What. Is. It," he said dangerously.

"W-well, sir… It's j-just that you've been t-taking mission after mission without rest for weeks…"

"And…?"

"N-nothing, sir." Hibari's glare intensified.

"Don't waste my time again, herbivore." And with that, he swept out of the room, leaving it's other occupant to nearly have a mental breakdown.

Tsuna sweatdropped. 'Hibari's gotten really scary,' he thought as he turned to look in the direction the Cloud guardian had left.

~~~~~Where Hibari is~~~~~

The Cloud guardian had stormed down to the section of Vongola HQ that dealt with travel to demand a flight to the US as soon as possible. Unfortunately, all the private jets were in use, and the earliest he could leave was tomorrow evening. He'd gritted his teeth, but accepted the arrangement with a short nod before heading off to the training room.

He'd just removed his jacket and pulled out his tonfas when, "Hibari! Hibari!" A bright chirp caused him to look up, only to find a bright yellow bird slowly flying down towards him. He shifted his tonfas so both were held in one hand, while his other was extended so Hibird can perch on it. The bird landed on his finger and ruffled its feathers.

"Hibari! Hibari!" the bird chirped once more.

"What is it?"

"Where herbivore?" the bird asked, understanding that usually when Hibari trained, it was against another person. Right now, the training room was empty; the silence was almost deafening. Hibari usually trained against Dino or Tsuna, but Dino was currently in Italy attempting to stop all out mafia war now that the Vongola had no boss and Tsuna…

"No herbivores today," Hibari said to the bird. Hibird seemed to understand as it chirped once and jumped off Hibari's finger to fly back into the rafters singing the Namimori school anthem. Hibari leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. How long had Tsuna been dead? A few days? It felt like so much longer…

~~~~~Flashback~~~~~

_Hibari had just signed the last paper, confirming that he'd disciplined a student for skipping school. He set the paper in a tray and stood up to gaze out the window. Tsuna was leaving the school gates with other herbivores. The trio had been momentarily stopped by the rowdy boxing club captain, but after a few moments they had left the gates and Ryohei had gone charging towards the locker rooms._

_The prefect shook his head. Though he'd acknowledged that Tsuna might qualify as an omnivore, the brunette still had far too many herbivorous tendencies. Hibari had then picked up his jacket and left the office with Hibird trailing after him. He always did one last top to bottom search of the school before he left to make sure no students were breaking the rules and lingering longer than what was allowed._

_Twenty minutes later, he was satisfied that his beloved school was secure and was about to walk out the gate, when he saw a shadowy figure flicker out of the corner of his eye. He whipped around, eyes darting back and forth, but no further movements were seen. He frowned. _

_"Who's there? Show yourself, herbivore," he threatened, thoroughly irritated that the figure continued to elude him. Something rustled in the tree to his right. Hibari gritted his teeth, strode to the tree and slammed his tonfa against it as hard as he could. There was a startled yelp and a large figure tumbled to the ground. Before the man could gather his bearings, Hibari had shoved his tonfa under his chin._

_"Herbivore. For sneaking around on school property after hours without a pass, I will bite you to death," Hibari stated. The man then did the most unexpected thing. He started laughing._

_"What happens to me doesn't matter," he chuckled. "I'm just an underling. Only good for surveillance. And my job is done." He smirked up at the irritated prefect._

_"What are you talking about, herbivore?"_

_"All I was supposed to do was make sure none of you would interfere. And you didn't." The man smiled. "The mission is accomplished. I wasn't supposed to live anyways."_

_"I'll ask one more time. What. Are. You. Talking. About."_

_"Oh you'll find out soon enough." Right then, Hibari's cell rang, startling the prefect and causing him to lose his grip on the man's shoulder. The other took advantage of this and started scrambling away, only to have Hibari fling his tonfa at him, hitting him in the head and knocking the man unconscious._

_"Stupid herbivore," Hibari muttered under his breath before digging out his cell phone. "What?" he snapped. His eyes widened a fraction of an inch. "The herbivore is WHERE?" He snapped his phone closed before eyeing the body. What to do? He finally used his handcuffs, despite the fact they weren't his favorite weapon, to cuff the man to a tree._

_Hibari then strode out of the school gates and towards the hospital. Hibird hovered over him. "Hibari! Bad! Herbivore hurt!" The prefect nodded slightly and quickened his pace._

_He arrived at the hospital after Ryohei to see Tsuna lying on the bed, unconscious. Was this what the intruder had been talking about? Had another family planned to kill the Vongola Boss? Was it really an "accident"? Hibari was going to find out. If that meant tearing up mafia organizations all over the globe, so be it._

~~~~~Flashback over~~~~~

He still hadn't found the answer. He'd visited the bases of a dozen rival families. Interrogated underlings. Basically scared the entire mafia world into believing that one day a very pissed off Cloud guardian would come knocking at their door (or more likely kicking it in). And still, he had nothing. It was infuriating.

Hibari picked up his tonfas and slammed them into the wall in frustration, cracking the cement. He glared at the damage. It didn't help that earlier that day when he'd returned to interrogate his prisoner, he didn't get any more information out of him. Certainly the Vongola had a lot of enemies, but most of them were too scared to directly challenge the Vongola's authority. What family would be brave enough to basically declare war on the strongest mafia family and all their allies? Hibari ran his fingers through his hair. What if it was really just an accident? What then?

~~~~~Where Tsuna is~~~~~

After making sure that the clerk wouldn't really have a mental break down, he trudged out of the office in the search for Hibari. The Cloud had never been easy to locate, always staying away from the group and refusing to "crowd with the herbivores" as he so charmingly put it. Tsuna felt as though he was lost exploring the base, an endless maze of corridors.

For what seemed like hours he walked up and down the halls looking, but finally found the training room. 'If he's not here,' Tsuna thought. 'Then I'm totally screwed.' He slowly opened the door and immediately had to duck as a tonfa flew toward his face. "Hiiiiieee!" he yelled watching it whiz over his head and strike the door with an ominous 'CRACK!' Tsuna sweatdropped when he found the weapon had actually left a dent in the steel door.

'I keep forgetting how insanely strong Hibari is…' he gulped as he examined the dent. He turned to face Hibari, whose eyes were darting around, looking for an unknown threat. 'Well, of course he would be,' the rational part of Tsuna's brain said. 'Doors don't just open on their own.' However, Tsuna was too busy thinking that Hibari was going to kill him to have rational thoughts.

"Who's there?" The prefect's steel edged voice cut through Tsuna's panic. Hibari was striding forward to grab his tonfa and kept warily eyeing all corners of the room.

'Maybe I should just leave,' Tsuna thought. 'Yeah… that's a pretty good idea… I'll come back when he's in a better mood…' he tried to slip out the door as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, as we all know, Tsuna has the crappiest luck in the world and Hibari turned to look directly at him.

'He's not supposed to be able to see me…right?' Tsuna thought, trying to recall what Jack said.

_"You are now a poltergeist, meaning normal people on Earth can no longer see or hear you."_ Tsuna recalled Jack's words.

'Well…I guess Hibari doesn't necessarily qualify as "normal",' he thought. He slipped right past the prefect. 'I need to go…NOW.' He darted as far away from the training room as fast as his legs could carry him and didn't stop until he was at the entrance to the base.

~~~~~Where Hibari is~~~~~~

Hibari could've sworn he'd seen his herbivorous… well he refused to call him boss. Come to think of it, he didn't really have a label for the spiky haired brunette. That thought quickly passed. What mattered was that he just had a hallucination of someone that was supposed to be dead.

Wait. Hallucination? As in, illusion? It had to have been an illusion. Hibari gritted his teeth and strode down the hallways to cancel his flight to America. He couldn't go on the mission. Not yet. Not while there was a certain indigo haired pineapple jerk that was begging to be bitten to death.

**A/N: I got to update sooner than expected :D Okay, this isn't a feel good chapter, it's more of one that has a plot twist... I'm sorry if you expected hurt/comfort. I really did intend to do that with this chapter, but...Hibari isn't a touchy feely guy. So instead you have this. A stupid random plot twist. I'm sorry... Please don't get mad.**

**So now I've got it set up for an appearance of the pineapples. Why do I get the feeling that this will just not end well? :P **

**Once again, it probably won't be a feel good chapter in the next one. Okay, maybe it will. I'm not really sure yet. Please bear with me and my weird brain.**

**Please review! Please? With pineapples on top?**


	10. Chapter 10: What can be Seen

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR.**

Chapter 10: What can be Seen Through the Mist

Tsuna stood, breathing heavily, just outside the door of the Vongola base. That run-in with Hibari had really shaken him. 'I thought Jack said no one could see me!' he frantically thought. 'It was probably just a fluke…right?' Tsuna attempted to comfort himself. He tried to shake any thoughts from his head. Maybe he'd just return when he thought Hibari had cooled off some.

"Jack?" he called hesitantly. Surely the junior grim reaper would be ticked about him calling so soon after the previous call. And he didn't have manga. Oops.

Tsuna closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable lecture, but it never came. He slowly opened his eyes to find himself back in the golden lobby of the dead. He panicked. He knew his days weren't up and he hadn't used the pill…

He saw Jack standing in a long line, a sour expression on the blonde's face, and raced over to him.

"Jack," he began. "What's going on? I know I still had a few days-"

"I know," Jack snapped, cutting the brunette off. "I'm here to get more travel tokens."

"Er, travel tokens?" Tsuna asked timidly.

"Yeah. What, did you think I could just bend space and dimension for free? I gotta get more tokens so I can cart you off to wherever you want."

"So… how long do we have to wait?" Tsuna questioned.

"I don't know… Couple hours," Jack replied irritably.

"So…what am I supposed to do?" Tsuna asked, running his fingers through his hair.

"How should I know?" Jack responded, resigning himself to a long wait. "Maybe you can help my sister feed the Venus fly traps." He pointed to the woman at the reception desk who had pulled out a bucket of questionable meat.

Tsuna looked at the long line and back to the woman. Stand in a long line with a grumpy reaper, or feed sketchy meat to deadly plants?

Tsuna headed over to Jack's sister.

~~~~~Back on Earth~~~~~

Hibari had left the plane as soon as possible, getting in a car bound for the Vongola mansion in Italy. Hopefully, he wouldn't run into a Bucking Horse right now. Beat up the stupid pineapple first, then deal with Dino.

Then again, Dino was still trying to prevent an all-out mafia war among the families. Word had leaked that the Vongola no longer had a successor, which had led to upstart families trying to prove their power to the mafia world. Luckily, many of the smaller families hadn't stood a chance against Hibari or Mukuro and Chrome, which was good because all the other Guardians were incapable of fighting, from what Hibari had heard. Weak herbivores, all of them. Unable to fight without the omnivore. Well, Hibari was different.

He exited the car and strode up the steps to the mansion, flashing only his ring and a glare to be allowed through the gates. The maids fell all over themselves welcoming the Cloud guardian, but he strode past them with and uninterested look on his face. Where was his prey?

There! Out of the corner of his eye! There was no mistaking that stupid pineapple silhouette. Hibari raised his tonfas and…!

Lowered them in disappointment. The person who stood in front of them was the other herbivore, Chrome. Hibari frowned.

"Um, Hibari-san…" Chrome began. "I didn't know you were in Italy…"

"Just got in," he replied briskly.

"Ah…" Chrome nodded. "Um, did you need something?" Hibari considered her question.

"Where is the pineapple herbivore?" he asked.

"M-mukuro-sama has stepped out for a little bit. He was muttering something not being right in the afterlife."

"Hn," Hibari muttered in acknowledgement. "I'm going to sleep then. Send someone up when he returns." The prefect left in a flap of his jacket, Hibird trailing behind him.

Chrome was left standing in the hallway, slightly confused. She shook her head. "Boss," she muttered. "Everything's been odd since you left."

~~~~~Flashback~~~~~

_Chrome had been excited. She was going to meet Haru and Kyoko later to go to a little cake shop and chat over tea. Afterwards, they were going to visit Tsuna to play with the kids. I-pin would teach her a few more martial arts moves and they would make dinner together. Mukuro had said something about checking on Ken and Chikusa and Chrome had seen him off. It was such a beautiful day._

_Just as she had been about to leave for the shop, she had gotten a call from Kyoko. Tsuna was in a car accident. It was bad. That was all Chrome understood before she had run down to where Mukuro and the gang were. She had arrived out of breath, but managed to pant out that they needed to get to the hospital immediately. _

_Chrome knew that Mukuro and Tsuna had never been close per se, but he had rushed out of there, dragging Chrome behind him, all the way to the hospital. They had burst into the room, and saw that they were the last of the Guardians to make it. _

_Chrome had covered her mouth in horror at seeing her boss and friend hooked up to so many different machines. Mukuro's mouth had been set in a grim line. A few minutes after they had arrived, Hibari had stalked out, a determined look on his face. The other Guardians had simply sat in a stunned silence, unsure of what to do without their sky._

~~~~~Flashback over~~~~~

Chrome had tried to pick herself up after his death, like Haru and Kyoko had tried. All the girls supported each other as they recovered. They had slept over at another's house almost every night and sometimes laughed, but mostly cried. Tsuna had been such a warm and gentle person, and now that light was gone from the world.

Chrome had gone with Mukuro when he'd announced he was going to Italy to make sure there were no attacks on the Vongola members operating outside of Japan. Of course, CEDEF and the Varia were working around the clock to do the same task, but Mukuro wasn't satisfied with that explanation. Chrome had secretly believed that Mukuro had just wanted to get away from everything that reminded him of Tsuna. Chrome didn't blame him; she didn't want to remember all the happy times in Japan. They just hurt her heart more.

Lately, Mukuro had seemed agitated. He'd confidentially told Chrome that there was something suspicious surrounding Tsuna's death. He'd been investigating the darkest depths of the mafia realm ever since. The illusionist had disappeared for days on end and, when he returned, just seemed to get more and more frustrated and withdrawn. Chrome was still grieving Tsuna's death, but she was worried even more that Mukuro would run himself ragged.

'Boss,' Chrome thought. 'If you were here, what would you do?'

~~~~~The Lobby~~~~~

Tsuna sneezed as he lowered a chunk of suspicious meat into a the waiting jaws of a Venus fly trap. The receptionist looked at him suspiciously.

"You better not have a cold," she warned.

"I-I don't believe I do," Tsuna stammered, squirming under her piercing gaze. Luckily, he was saved from the stare down when Jack tapped him on the shoulder and announced that he had enough travel tokens for the rest of Tsuna's remaining days. Tsuna sighed in relief and requested to be transported to where Chrome was. He disappeared in a flash of light.

The receptionist stared skeptically at her brother. "You aren't going with him this time?" she questioned. He shook his head.

"Nope. I've got a sneaking suspicion that car accident wasn't an accident," he muttered. "I'm going to do some research." The blonde reaper headed off to the record archives.

The receptionist rolled her eyes. "Of course it wasn't an accident," she said to herself, tossing some meat to a waiting Venus fly trap. "Why else would a car be racing at 60 miles per hour through a school zone?"

~~~~~Vongola Italy Mansion~~~~~

Tsuna was unceremoniously dropped in the lobby of the Vongola mansion. He stood up and dusted himself off. 'I'm getting way too used to this,' he thought, glancing at his surroundings.

Once he managed to get his bearings, he started wandering aimlessly around the endless corridors. "We seriously need to put some maps in our headquarters," he muttered, passing the same portrait of Vongola Nono for the seventh time. He sighed and went down another corridor he hoped he hadn't been through before. He rounded the corner and…

BAM!

Tsuna fell to the ground as the other figure did the same.

'Oh-no…' Tsuna thought, opening his eyes slowly. 'Good thing they can't see me…' When his eyes were fully focused, he realized the other figure was none other than Chrome, who was looking directly at him, eyes widened in surprise. 'Can she…?' Tsuna mentally wondered. His speculations were confirmed by her next word.

"Boss?"

**A/N: *dodges various sharp objects and rotten produce* Wow... it's been a while, huh? Well, this story's plot actually seems to be moving in the forward direction! It must be a MiRaClE :O)**

**Anyways, the story probably won't last too much longer (I already have an ending in mind in a few more chapters) but thanks for sticking with me, even after an unbearably long hiatus :D You guys are all awesome.**

**So please review! Your reviews were literally the only thing that kept me from abandoning this story... Thanks :D**


	11. Chapter 11: Pieces Fall Into Place

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or any of the characters.**

Chapter 11: Pieces Fall Into Place

Mukuro slammed the door behind him as he exited his makeshift interrogation chamber. He obviously wasn't getting any more information out of that low level grunt and that just frustrated further. After all the hours he'd put in, the most he'd gotten was that Tsuna's death wasn't an accident, but he had no idea what family or families were involved in the conspiracy.

For the past few days he'd been chasing any wisps of information that he could find, not that many came from reliable sources. He'd known for a while that something was wrong about the way Tsuna had died, but going to Italy had given him no further leads. He growled as he ran a hand through his dark hair and felt his hand twitch on his trident.

~~~~~Flashback~~~~~

_It was just a routine day in Mukuro's life. He'd been very bored lately and was wondering whether he should go antagonize Fran for some form of entertainment. He'd smirked darkly at the thought of bullying the boy who routinely insulted Mukuro in his flat sarcastic monotone. _

_Ever since Tsuna had become Decimo, Mukuro and Chrome had shared a residence for the sake of convenience and security. That day, Mukuro had left to get Ken and Chikusa, intending to ask them to accompany him in his visit to Fran and Chrome had waved from the doorstep, a slight smile on her face. Mukuro would never say it out loud, but he was, in fact, glad that Chrome had some other friends such as Haru and Kyoko that she could spend time with instead of hanging around Mukuro's group all day._

_Mukuro had met up with Ken and Chikusa about half an hour afterwards and they had barely exchanged greetings when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps behind him. Mukuro had whirled around quickly, and prepared to materialize his trident, when he realized it was just Chrome and relaxed a bit. _

_Chrome had been bent over from exhaustion but gasped out that Tsuna had been in an accident and was in the hospital. Mukuro felt his ever present smirk slide off his face and he immediately grabbed Chrome's arm and ran to the hospital leaving a surprised Ken and Chikusa behind him. Mukuro didn't understand why he was running, he'd never been very close with the brunette, but he knew he needed to be there as soon as possible. _

_The hospital room was already packed with the other Guardians and Tsuna's mother and the children. Mukuro had stared unbelievingly at the bed Tsuna lay in with all the tubes running across and under the hospital robes. He had an oxygen mask placed around his mouth and nose and the heart monitors beeped loudly, the only break to the stunned silence all the room's occupants were in._

_The Mist Guardians had hardly been there five minutes when Hibari abruptly turned around and stormed past them to the doorway. The skylark had looked ready to kill as the dark menacing aura left the hospital. Meanwhile, Mukuro had felt there was a deeper significance behind the Cloud Guardian's actions, besides the fact that he just hated crowding with others. Something was definitely going on._

_After Tsuna's death, Mukuro had carefully monitored Hibari's actions to see why he'd stormed out of the hospital that day. The Mist Guardian had already known that Hibari often took missions from Vongola HQ to track down foreign criminals, but now the Cloud seemed almost frantic, demanding the status of every rival family and their actions on the date of Tsuna's death. It didn't take Mukuro long to put two and two together to realize that Tsuna's death was foul play instead of the accident most had written it off to._

_The day after realizing this, Mukuro had made the decision to fly to the Vongola HQ in Italy and observe the rival families over there, hoping to find a substantial lead. He'd hidden his actual motives by claiming that he was just ensuring the Italy member's safety, but Chrome didn't believe his weak excuse and insisted on tagging along with him. Mukuro had grudgingly allowed her to come after he realized she wasn't budging on the matter. The two had left on the first flight out of Japan._

_After arriving, Chrome had stayed inside the HQ, rarely leaving for anything other than simple errands. Mukuro was grateful for the fact that Chrome didn't pry into his business as he searched throughout Italy for the other family, but he felt slightly guilty for making her worry so much. As days went by, his frustration was growing deeper and the exhaustion from lack of sleep was getting to him. And yet, there were no answers._

~~~~~Flashback over~~~~~

Mukuro had told himself to be patient and that answers would be revealed with time, but all the sources and interrogations he'd done had amounted to nothing. He'd been going in circles ever since he got to Italy, not to mention he'd actually had to anticipate attacks on his person. Mukuro rolled his eyes at the thought of all the attacks he'd suffered. The men who'd thought Mukuro was weak without Tsuna had been in for a nasty surprise when they found a three pronged trident pointing at their throat.

The pineapple sighed as he trudged from the underground interrogation chamber back to Vongola HQ where Chrome would undoubtedly be waiting for him, silently pleading for an explanation he refused to give. It's not that he didn't trust the girl with his findings; it's just that he had nothing to tell her. The girl had probably already reasoned that it wasn't an accident and there was nothing more he could tell her about it.

All the rival families had seemed to check out and there were no reports of recent conspiracies or uprisings within the Vongola. As far as his evidence was concerned, it was just a car accident, though Mukuro knew instinctually that was not the case. Hibari's continued searching only strengthened his convictions.

He pushed open the needlessly huge doors to the Vongola mansion after flashing his Mist ring at the security guard and walked slowly down the long corridors. He cycled through the facts (which weren't helpful), possible things that had been overlooked and the reactions of the other families he'd visited, which helped him find absolutely no leads. He was still lost in his thoughts as he climbed the wide, carpeted stair case and started down the hallway that led to his bedroom.

He had just been reaching for the doorknob when he felt an insistent tug on the back of his shirt. He sighed and imagined himself banging his head against the door.

"What is it, Chrome dear? I would really like to get some sleep…" Mukuro said, rubbing his eyes.

"You need to see something," Chrome replied, softly but firmly. Mukuro opened his eyes and turned to face the girl, only to see that she was determined to make him go somewhere even if she had to drag him there.

"Alright," Mukuro relented, not in the mood for an argument. She nodded and led him down the hallway to the study area. "Well, what did you want me too-!" Mukuro felt his eyes widen in shock as he saw one very familiar looking brunette sitting on the couch. The brunette jumped at Mukuro's words and twisted around to face him, further convincing the pineapple that he was not dreaming.

"H-hey Mukuro-san…" Tsuna said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"You're not dead…" Mukuro stated, narrowing his eyes at the brunette. Tsuna shook his head and raised his hands in denial.

"No, no, I am dead, but… well, it's a bit complicated…" Tsuna said, starting to become a bit frantic in his explanation. Mukuro felt his eye twitch at the brunette's wild hand gestures, but he was luckily prevented from summoning his trident when a large crashing sound was heard from the room above them.

"It appears that Hibari-san is awake," Chrome said quietly. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Mukuro was amused watching all the color drain from Tsuna's face as the Decimo ran around looking for a place to hide.

~~~~~Back in Japan~~~~~

"Do you think I give a damn what seating class we're sitting in?! Just get us on the first flight to Italy!" Gokudera yelled at the receptionist who was shrinking back in her chair.

"Calm down, Gokudera!" Yamamoto grinned. "There's a nicer way to get tickets…"

"SHUT UP BASEBALL FREAK!" The teen raged, barely restrained by Ryohei from strangling the grinning Rain Guardian.

"We shouldn't fight TO THE EXTREME!" Ryohei yelled, which only served to enrage Gokudera further.

"YOU SHUT UP TOO, TURF TOP!"

"WHAT WAS THAT, OCTOPUS HEAD?!"

"Lambo-sama wants Tsuna-nii!" The Lightning Guardian bawled. The poor receptionist was considering making a break for the door and flinched when a she heard a voice directed at her.

"Excuse me, miss?" Yamamoto said, showing off his trademark smile. The woman warily eyed him. "Can you just book us the next flight to Italy? Any seats will do." She nodded to show she understood, printed their tickets and watched as they left, Gokudera and Ryohei still arguing.

**A/N: Wow... I really suck at updating right now... Blah, blah, blah, school, exams, extracurricular activities. Anyways, I haven't read KHR in a REALLY long time, so sorry if the characters are now OOC and all that nonsense... I'm not going to lie, I struggled writing Mukuro's character... *sweatdrops* **

**I've also come to be the bearer of bad news. My summer schedule is packed, so I have no idea when this will be updated... You must really hate me after this ehehehe... Looks like my plans of updating frequently this summer have been shot to heck... oh well**

**Anyways, the story actually WILL be wrapping up soon! Didn't see that coming, huh? There's still a few details I have to work out in my mind, but I actually have a conclusion planned! So, see? It's not all bad news! :D**

**So, Please review! Reviews are what keep me writing this story~ :D**


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